EU or not EU, that is the question
Tuesday January 13th 2004
A query came our way recently, relating to the EU status of a college applicant. Although it is not an issue that affects the vast majority of college applicants (most of whom are Irish school-leavers), defining EU status can be one of the more complex issues in the field of college entry. Indeed, it can be so difficult to determine EU status that CAO has actually removed the categories of EU or non-EU from its 2004 application form, leaving it to individual colleges to determine the issue.
As this column reported in December, CAO found that in recent years its staff was spending increasing amounts of time attempting to define what constituted EU status in an applicant, and what did not. A common definition was not available from the Department of Justice or the Department of Education and Science.
The universities under the remit of the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) have agreed on a common policy for determining the EU status of an applicant. There are two principal issues involved; one relating to EU nationality and the second to residency.
Applicants must have Irish, or other EU nationality, or official Irish refugee status. Applicants must have also spent three of the last five years as a resident in an EU-member state, before the commencement of an approved full-time third-level course. Prior residence as a full-time student does not qualify a student for EU status and the associated fee rates.
Students who are classified for fee purposes as non-EU cannot change their status during their course. So if, for example, you lived in Ireland or another EU country for just two years prior to entering college, and then start a course as a non-EU and fee-paying student, you cannot qualify for EU (and non-fee) status after the first year of the course.
Students in Irish schools who are non-EU nationals or who are seeking refugee status, are most likely to be affected by the issue. It could also affect Irish nationals living and attending school outside of the EU prior to their college application. Applicants who are in any doubt about their EU status should contact the college of their choice. Non-EU applicants are required to apply directly to a university rather than go through CAO.
Meanwhile, the row in Britain over proposed top-up fees for third-level education continues, as the British Education Secretary announced more details in the House of Commons last week. The proposals would do away with the current up-front fee payable in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - stg£1,125 for British and other EU nationals in the current academic year.
The new proposals must meet with parliamentary approval and in any event will not come into effect until 2006. The proposed top-up fee would be stg£3,000 per annum, although the Education Secretary states that no full-time undergraduate student, or parent of a full-time undergraduate student, would have to pay any fees before going to university or while studying. Graduates would only start paying back the loan after they left university and when they started earning over stg£15,000 a year. Their repayments would be linked to earnings.
Those who oppose the proposals fear that the bill will discourage students from poorer backgrounds from going to university. They also believe that many universities may be permitted to charge more than stg£3,000 per annum. They fear that if the principle of variable fees gets through the British Parliament, it is only a matter of time before they will be fighting proposals for much higher fees in some universities.
The closing date for application to UCAS (the British Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) is this Thursday. Several thousand Irish students apply annually and no doubt will continue to do so.
Mary O'Donnell
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